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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

0¥  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


(^  /L^«t>wVv 


THE  REAL  QUIYIRA. 


uv^ 


BY 


W.    E.   RICHEY 


Reprinted  from  volume  6  of  the  Collections  of  the  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 


THE  REAL  QUIVIRA. 


IN  arriving  at  my  conclusion  as  to  the  location  of  the  real  Quivira  I  have  pur- 
sued largely  an  independent  line  of  study  and  have  been  but  little  influenced 
by  the  opinions  of  others. 

I  shall  refer  mainly  to  the  Spanish  accounts  of  the  explorers  themselves,  as 
they  appear  in  the  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 

Tales  of  gold,  silver  and  great  cities  north  of  Mexico  had  reached  that  country 
at  various  times  since  its  conquest  by  the  Spaniards.  Mexican  Indians  who  had 
gone  northward  with  feathers  to  trade  had  brought  back  gold  and  silver.  These 
reports  were  confirmed  by  Cabeca  de  Vaca  and  his  two  companions,  the  remnant 
of  the  [ill-fated  expedition  which  Narvaez  led  into  Florida.  These  unfortunate 
adventurers,  suffering  incredible  hardships,  had  made  their  way  from  Florida  to 
Mexico,  arriving  there  in  1536,  and  giving  to  the  viceroy  an  account  of  "some 
large  and  powerful  villages"  in  the  mysterious  country  north  of  Mexico.  Peru 
and  Mexico  had  yielded  immense  quantities  of  the  precious  metals  to  their  ruth- 
less Spanish  conquerors.  Consequently  the  imagination  and  avarice  of  the 
Spaniards  in  Mexico  were  greatly  excited,  and  Mendoca,  the  viceroy  of  Mexico, 
raised  an  army  for  the  exploration  and  conquest  of  the  "seven  cities  of  Cibola,'' 
and  the  unknown  regions  to  the  north. 

Francisco  Vasquez  de  Coronado  was  appointed  commander  of  this  army.  It 
consisted  of  about  300  Spaniards,  well  armed  and  mounted,  and  nearly  a  thou- 
sand friendly  Indians  and  servants.  Artillery,  ammunition,  and  subsistence, 
consisting  in  part  of  droves  of  cattle  and  sheep,  were  supplied  in  abundance  and 
taken  along  with  the  army  for  its  use. 

On  February  23,  ISiO,  the  army  left  Compostella  and,  proceeding  northward 
through  the  Pacific  coast  region  of  Mexico,  occupied  the  Zuni  Indian  villages, 
explored  the  grand  canon  of  the  Colorado,  Tiguex,  Cicuye,  and  the  edge  of  the 
great  buffalo  plains  to  the  east.  Winter  quarters  were  established  at  Tiguex,  on. 
the  Rio  Grande,  near  the  site  of  Santa  Fe. 

The  Spaniards  were  sorely  disappointed.  They  had  seen  some  pueblo  villages,, 
the  habitations  of  certain  tribes;  but  no  great  cities  had  been  discovered,  na^ 
gold  nor  silver  found.  They  had  plundered  the  villages  and  encountered  the^ 
hostility  of  the  astonished  natives,  who  heartily  wished  their  troublesome  visitors; 
away.  To  get  rid  of  them,  they  shrewdly  persuaded  one  of  their  prisoners,  a. 
Quivira  Indian,  whom  the  Spaniards  called  "the  Turk,"  to  represent  Quivira  as; 
a  land  of  fabulous  wealth.  The  design  seems  to  have  been  to  get  the  Spaniards 
on  the  great  plains,  with  the  hope  that  they  would  get  lost,  die  of  hunger,  and 
never  return. 

In  April,  1541,  Coronado  and  his  army,  guided  by  the  Turk,  left  the  Tiguex 
country  for  Quivira.  Entering  the  great  plains,  on  which  roamed  immense  herds 
of  buffalo,  they  met  some  Indians,  called  Querechos,  among  the  buffalo.     Pur- 


550492 


Buing  their  journey  in  the  unknown  land,  they  found  another  plains  tribe,  called 
the  Teyas,  who  said  that  Quivira  was  far  to  the  north.  With  the  army  was 
another  Indian  from  Harahey,  a  neighboring  tribe  of  the  Quiviras,  who  was  re- 
turning to  his  country.  This  Indian,  named  Isopete,  had  maintained  that  the 
Turk  was  lying.  The  army  was  getting  short  of  provisions,  and  at  a  council  of 
the  officers  it  was  decided  that  the  main  part  of  the  army  should  return  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  that  Coronado,  with  thirty  picked  men,  should  proceed  north- 
ward to  Quivira.  Captain  Jaramillo  was  one  of  the  thirty.  Isopete  had  stoutly 
maintained  that  the  Turk  was  leading  the  army  too  much  toward  the  east.  He 
was  now  believed  and  was  taken  with  Coronado  as  guide.  The  Turk  was  taken 
along  in  chains  and  afterward  strangled. 

It  seems  proper  to  here  describe  briefly  the  manner  of  living  of  the  plains  In- 
dians as  they  were  found  by  the  Spaniards  more  than  350  years  ago.  The  very 
existence  of  these  Indians  depended  on  the  buffalo.  They  lived  among  these  ani- 
mals and  roamed  with  them.  They  killed  them  with  their  arrows.  Their  flesh 
served  as  food;  their  hides  as  clothing,  blankets,  shoes,  ropes,  and  tents;  their 
bones  as  needles;  their  dung  as  fuel;  their  wool  as  strings;  their  stomachs  and 
larger  entrails  as  water  vessels;  their  horns  as  cups:  and  their  sinews  as  thread, 
with  which  to  sew  the  clothing,  shoes,  and  tents.  Some  sticks  drawn  together 
and  fastened  at  the  top,  their  lower  parts  sloping  outward,  the  lower  ends  resting 
on  the  ground,  and  the  framework  covered  with  hides,  constituted  their  tents. 
Of  flint  they  made  implements,  and  with  it  they  struck  fire.  When  they  moved 
they  carried  their  belongings  on  sticks,  one  end  of  these  sticks  being  fastened  to 
the  sides  of  their  "dogs,"  the  other  ends  dragging  along  on  the  ground.  These 
animals  described  by  the  Spaniards  as  dogs  were  undoubtedly  tamed  wolves. 
Deer,  wolves  and  rabbits  shared  the  plains  with  the  buffalo. 

General  Simpson  and  some  other  writers  state  that  the  point  where  Coronado 
separated  from  the  main  army  was  not  south  of  the  Canadian  river.  Mr.  F.  W. 
Hodge,  of  the  bureau  of  ethnology,  in  his  able  and  admirable  article  "Culiacan 
to  Quivira,"  in  Hon.  J.  V.  Brewer's  masterly  work  "Harahey,"  inclines  to  the 
belief  that  the  point  of  separation  was  as  far  south  as  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Colorado  or  even  the  Nueces.  A  close  study  of  the  direction  pursued  from 
Tiguex,  the  country  described,  and  the  time  consumed  by  Coronado  on  his  north- 
ward tour,  leads  me  to  believe  that  Mr.  Hodge's  view  is  the  correct  one. 

Jaramillo  (page  589)  says:  "We  pursued  our  way,  the  direction  all  the  time 
after  this  being  north  for  more  than  thirty  days'  march,  although  not  long 
marches.  ...  So  that  on  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  day  we  reached  a  river  which 
we  found  to  be  there  below  Quivira.  When  we  reached  the  said  river,  the  Indian 
recognized  it  and  said  that  was  it,  and  that  it  was  below  the  settlements.  We 
crossed  it  there,  and  went  up  the  other  side,  on  the  north,  the  direction  turning 
toward  the  northeast,  and  after  marching  three  days  we  found  some  Indians  who 
were  going  hunting,  killing  the  cows  (buffaloes)  to  take  their  meat  to  their  vil- 
lage, which  was  about  three  or  four  days  still  farther  away  from  us." 

The  "  Relacion  del  Suceso  "  ( page  577),  speaking  of  Coronado's  northward  jour- 
ney, says:  "Francisco  Vasquez  set  out  across  these  plains  in  search  of  Quivira, 
,  .  ,  and,  after  proceeding  many  days  by  the  needle  (i.  e.,  to  the  north),  it 
pleased  God  that  after  thirty  days'  march  we  found  the  river  Quivira,  which  is 
thirty  leagues  below  the  settlement.  While  going  up  the  valley  we  found  people 
who  were  going  hunting  who  were  natives  of  Quivira." 

The  Santa  Fe  trail  is  a  prehistoric  route,  and  the  place  where  it  crossed  the 
"Arkansas  river  was  a  landmark  widely  known.     That  this  was  where  Coronado 


and  his  companions  crossed,  and  that  this  was  the  Arkansas  river,  is  shown  by 
the  northeast  direction  of  the  route  along  the  north  side  of  the  river  pursued 
after  crossing;  and  also  by  the  statements  of  one  of  the  officers  that,  on  the  re- 
turn journey  they  traveled  over  a  road — a  good  road  —  on  both  sides  of  the  same 
crossing  of  the  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  river.  This  good  road  was  the  Santa  Fe 
trail.     I  shall  refer  to  it  hereafter. 

When  Isopete  started  to  guide  Coronado  and  his  detachment  to  Quivira,  his 
first  objective  point  was  the  place  where  the  Santn  Fc  trail  crossed  the  river.  A 
trail  from  the  south  led  the  guide  and  the  Spaniards  to  this  crossing.  When 
they  reached  the  river  the  guide  "recognized"  not  only  it,  but  the  crossing  and 
^the  Santa  Fe  trail,  by  which  he  identified  the  place  and  said  "that  was  it," 
meaning  that  the  Santa__Fe  trail  crossing,  his  first  objective  point,  had  been 
reached.  No  other  place  of  crossing  the  river  was  sought  for.  They  "crossed 
it  there."  The  Arkansas  is  the  only  river  along  which  the  Spaniards  could  have 
marched  the  distance  named  in  a  northeast  direction.  East  of  Fort  Dodge  this 
river  bends  towards  the  northeast  and  flows  in  this  direction  to  Great  Bend, 
about  eighty  miles  or  thirty  leagues,  the  distance  given  by  the  "Relacion  del 
Suceso."  As  the  Santa  Fe  trail  crossed  the  Arkansas  near  the  bend  from  which 
the  river  flowed  toward  the  northeast,  and  as  the  distance  from  the  crossing  to 
the  settlements  was  eighty  miles,  the  first  Quivira  villages  seen  by  the  Spaniards 
must  have  been  near  the  site  of  Great  Bend. 

What  direction  did  the  Spaniards  pursue  from  the  vicinity  of  Great  Bend,  or 
from  where  the  river  ceases  to  flow  toward  the  northeast? 

A  correct  answer  to  this  question  will  solve  the  problem  of  the  location  of 
Quivira. 

I  shall  cite  some  statements  from  the  chronicles  of  the  expedition,  which, 
combined  with  known  facts  I  will  present,  have  not  been  mentioned  by  other 
writers,  that  I  am  aware  of. 

Jaramillo  is  particular  in  naming  directions.  Even  in  speaking  of  a  single 
day's  march,  made  after  the  northward  journey  was  decided  on  and  before  it  com- 
menced, he  says,  "we  all  went  forward  one  day."  (Page  589.)  Before  meeting 
the  hunting  party,  "who  were  natives  qf_Qinvira,"  he  speaks  of  going  toward 
the  northeast  along  the  river,  after  leaving  the  crossing  of  the  St.  Peter  and 
Paul's.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  direction  pursued,  because  it  is  estab- 
lished by  both  his  statement  and  the  course  of  the  river.  With  this  direction  still 
in  mind,  and  naming  no  other,  he  says:  "So  the  Indians  went  to  their  houses, 
which  were  at  the  distance  mentioned,  and  we  also  2^'>'oceeded  at  our  rate  of 
marching  until  we  reached  the  settlements"  (page  590):  that  is,  they,  and  also 
the  Indians,  tvent  forward  in  the  same  general  direction,  toward  the  northeast. 
To  proceed  (jiro,  forward,  and  cedo,  to  move)  is  to  move  forward.  That  this  was 
the  direction  pursued  is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  had  he  gone  north,  east,  or 
southeast,  he  would  have  found  no  "very  large  river,"  nor  any  section  of  country 
such  as  he  and  Coronado  described.  Some  of  the  descriptions  might  have  ap- 
plied, but  not  all  of  them.  No  other  direction  is  mentioned  of  the  retvirn  journey 
until  the  same  crossing  of  the  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  was  reached. 

On  page  591  Jaramillo  says  of  the  return  march :  "Thus  they  brought  us  back 
by  the  same  road  as  far  as  where  I  said  before  that  we  came  to  a  river  called  St. 
Peter  and  Paul's,  and  here  we  left  that  by  which  we  had  come  ( that  is,  from  the 
south),  and,  taking  the  right  hand,  they  led  us  along  by  watering  places  and 
among  cows  (buffaloes),  and  by  a  good  road,  although  there  are  none  either  one 
way  or  the  other  except  those  of  the  cows,  as  I  have  said." 


6 

It  will  be  seen  that  Jaramillo  gives  the  direction  of  the  trail  leading  to  the 
crossing;  of  the  one  leading  from  it  toward  Quivira  and  back  again  to  the  cross- 
ing; and  of  the  one  leading  thence  by  "taking  the  right  hand."  Here  are  four 
different  directions  of  travel  described.  The  Spanish  historians  of  the  expedi- 
tion aimed  to  point  out  the  way  to  Quivira,  and  is  it  not  probable,  is  it  not  more 
than  probable,  that,  had  there  been  any  considerable  divergence  from  the  north- 
east direction,  the  only  one  named,  the  change  of  direction  would  have  been 
mentioned ;  especially  so,  as  other  changes  of  direction  were  so  clearly  described, 
as  I  have  shown  ? 

The  "road"  which  the  party  traveled  on  along  the  river  and  back  again  was 
the  Santa  Fe  trail ;  the  road  which  was  described  as  the  one  "by  which  we  had 
come"  was  the  trail  leading  to  the  crossing  from  the  south;  and  the  "good 
road"  leading  from  the  crossing  in  the  direction  indicated  by  "the  right  hand" 
was  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  over  which  the  Spaniards  returned  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

Here  were  trails  from  three  different  directions  converging  at  the  crossing. 
There  were  probably  others,  but  these  are  surely  sufficient  to  show  that  this  was 
the  landmark  to  and  from  which  Coronado  and  his  men  marched  after  the  begin- 
ning of  their  northward  exploring  tour.  No  point  on  the  whole  route  of  the  Cor- 
onado expedition  seems  more  definitely  identified  than  that  where  the  old, 
prehistoric  Santa  Fe  trail  crossed  the  Arkansas  river;  and,  this  point  established, 
the  location  of  Quivira,  long  a  mystery,  can  be  no  longer  in  doubt. 

On  page  590  Jaramillo  says  the  Quivira  settlements  were  found  '■'along  good 
river  bottoms,"  and  "good  streams  which  flow  into  another,  larger  than  the  one 
I  have  mentioned"— that  is,  the  St.  Peter  and  Paul's.  Had  the  explorers  gone 
north  and  crossed  the  Smoky  Hill  and  other  streams  of  considerable  size,  as  the 
Saline  and  Solomon,  would  this  language  have  been  used  and  the  fact  of  their 
crossing  been  omitted  ?  The  descriptions  certainly  imply  that,  for  a  part  of  the 
distance  at  least,  they  went  down  the  Smoky  Hill  and  visited  the  streams  which 
flow  into  it  from  the  south.  Jaramillo  also  says  the  rivers  were  "without  much 
water."  This  would  likely  be  true  of  the  Smoky  Hill;  and  the  plums,  mulber- 
ries, grapes  and  nuts  of  which  Coronado  and  Jaramillo  speak  were  very  probably 
on  the  lower  Smoky  Hill  and  upper  Kansas  rivers.  In  addition  to  this,  these  two 
writers  made  statements  which  seem  to  have  never  been  fully  interpreted.  On 
page  582  Coronado  says  of  Quivira  that  it  is  "  very  well  watered  by  the  rivulets 
and  springs  and  rivers";  and  Jaramillo,  adding  to  this  description,  says,  on  page 
591,  "It  is  not  a  very  rough  country,  but  is  made  up  of  hillocks  and  plains  and 
very  fine-appearing  streams  and  rivers";  and  again  he  says,  on  page  590,  in 
speaking  of  the  "end"  of  Quivira,  "here  there  was  a  river  with  more  water  and 
more  inhabitants  than  the  others." 

These  descriptions  certainly  apply  more  aptly  to  the  country  along  the  south 
side  of  the  lower  Smoky  Hill  and  upper  Kansas  than  any  other.  Castaneda,  on 
page  528,  says,  "Quivira  is  to  the  west  of  those  ravines."  There  are  no  tribu- 
taries of  the  Kansas  on  its  south  side  below  Humboldt  and  McDowell's  creeks  to 
which  the  term  ravines  can  be  more  fitly  applied  than  to  the  heads  of  those 
streams. 

On  page  590  Jaramillo  further  states;  "We  reached  what  they  said  was  the 
end  of  Quivira,  to  which  they  took  us,  saying  that  the  things  there  were  of  great 
importance."  This  allusion  to  things  of  "great  importance"  was  evidently  lost 
on  the  Spaniards,  because  they  viewed  it  from  their  own  standpoint,  and  not 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Indians.  Let  us  consider  it  from  the  position  of  the 
latter,  and  try  to  determine  what  the  Quiviras  meant  by  things  of  "great  impor- 
tance." 


The  country  drained  by  Humboldt  and  McDowell's  creeks  is  a  land  of  gush- 
ing springs,  of  noble  streams,  of  "good  bottoms,"  of  timber  belts  and  "  hillocks." 
Here,  too,  is  chert,  easily  accessible  and  of  good  quality,  from  which  the  prehis- 
toric inhabitants  for  ages  fashioned  their  rude  implements,  as  much  of  a  neces- 
sity to  them  as  firearms  and  agricultural  implements  were  to  their  white  brethren. 
Were  not  all  these  things  ''of  great  importance"  to  these  children  of  nature? 

There  is  nowhere  else  in  Kansas  a  section  of  country  of  equal  area  that  com- 
bined as  many  advantages  and  supplied  as  many  and  as  varied  wants  as  this. 
Why  should  the  Quiviras  prefer  a  less  favored  location  rather  than  this?  Is  it 
surprising  that  its  superior  resources  caused  it  to  be  widely  known,  as  far,  even, 
as  the  remote  Teyas  ? 

On  page 577  the " Relacion  del  Suce8o"says:  "Francisco  Vasquez  went  twen- 
ty-five leagues  through  these  settlements,  to  where  he  obainedan  account  of  what 
was  beyond,  and  they  said  that  the  plains  come  to  an  end,  and  that  down  the 
river  there  are  people  who  do  not  plant,  but  live  wholly  by  hunting." 

Coronado  (page  582)  says,  speaking  of  the  Quiviras  and  this  same  river, 
" They  are  settled    .     .     .     on  a  very  large  river." 

This  river  was  the  Kansas.  No  mention  is  made  of  large  bodies  of  timber. 
As  hillocks,  ravines  and  plains  are  all  spoken  of  together,  it  seems  probable  that 
the  word  plains  was  used  to  describe  the  grassy  country,  the  prairies  generally. 
On  page  580  Coronado  says:  "I  reached  some  plains  so  vast  that  I  did  not  find 
their  limit  anywhere  that  I  went" ;  that  is,  he  saw  the  prairies  everywhere.  The 
general  appearance  of  the  country  seemed  level,  comparatively  so  at  least,  to 
those  who  had  been  used  to  mountains ;  yet  there  were  hillocks  and  ravines. 
The  word  plains  may  have  also  been  used  to  describe  the  grassy  bottoms  of  the 
Kansas  river. 

The  place  where  this  "great  river"  was  seen  was  in  the  "plains,"  and  "down 
the  river"  where  "the  plains  come  to  an  end"  the  timbered  country  began,  and 
the  land  not  being  cleared,  there  were  people  there  who  did  not  "plant,"  but 
lived  "wholly  by  hunting." 

This  "very  great  river,"  this  "river  with  more  water  and  more  inhabitants 
than  the  others,"  into  which  the  ones  "without  much  water"  and  the  other 
"good  streams"  flowed,  and  which  ran  down  to  where  "the  plains  come  to  an 
end,"  could  have  been  no  other  river  than  the  Kansas.  It  is  much  more  probable 
that  the  explorers  reached  it  by  going  down  the  south  side  of  the  Smoky  Hill 
than  the  north  side  of  that  stream,  which  would  have  been  a  roundabout  way. 
With  high  anticipations,  and  being  anxious  to  reach  the  supposed  goal  the  nearer 
they  approached  it,  they  would  naturally  go  on  the  shortest  route,  the  one  down 
the  south  side  of  the  Smoky  Hill,  where,  as  I  have  said,  the  descriptions  of  the 
country  apply  most  aptly. 

The  goal  to  which  the  expectant  explorers  were  led  was  the  "end  of  Quivira," 
the  Indians  "saying  that  the  things  there  were  of  great  importance."  I  have 
mentioned  these  "things  of  great  importance,"  as  the  Indians  understood  them. 
Here,  at  "the  end  of  Quivira,"  was  seen  the  great  river,  the  Kansas,  which  has 
been  so  fully  described. 

This  river  could  not  have  been  the  Missouri.  The  high  river  bluffs,  the  broad 
timber  belts  along  that  stream,  and  the  forests  that  would  have  been  visible 
beyond  it,  would  have  contrasted  so  greatly  with  the  country  seen  before,  that 
the  features  I  have  named  would  have  been  mentioned,  if  not  described.  Here 
would  have  been  the  limit  of  the  plains;  yet  Coronado  says  (page  580)  he  never 
reached  their  limit.    Whatever  the  narrators  may  have  meant  by  the  word  plains. 


8 

it  cannot  correctly  be  said  of  the  Missouri  that  down  the  river  the  plains  come  to 
an  end. 

When  Castaneda  says  "Quivira  is  to  the  west  of  those  ravines,"  he  evidently 
establishes  the  eastern  limit  of  Quivira  by  the  ravines  of  which  he  speaks. 

In  the  same  sentence  (page  528)  he  says,  "The  country  is  level  as  far  as 
Quivira,  and  there  they  began  to  see  some  mountain-chains."  These  were  the 
high  hills  along  the  Smoky  Hill  river,  which  marked  the  limit  of  the  level  coun- 
try, over  which  the  explorers  marched  after  leaving  the  crossing  of  the  St.  Peter 
and  Paul's.  Considering  the  established  point  of  crossing  and  the  direction  pur- 
sued from  it,  what  other  hills  could  they  have  been  ? 

These  hills  marked  what  the  author  of  the  statement  conceived  to  be  the 
western  limit  of  Quivira. 

On  page  591,  Jaramillo,  speaking  of  the  beginning  of  the  return  from  the  "end 
of  Quivira,"  says:  "We  turned  bock  it  may  have  been  two  or  three  days,  where 
we  provided  ourselves  with  picked  fruit  and  dried  corn  for  our  return.  The  gen- 
eral raised  a  cross  at  this  place,  at  the  foot  of  which  he  made  some  letters  with  a 
•chisel,  which  said  that  Francisco  Vasquez  de  Coronado,  general  of  that  army, 
had  arrived  there." 

This  was  an  important  point  on  the  return  journey.  Isopete  was  left  here, 
and  the  final  return,  for  which  "picked  fruit  and  dried  corn"  were  there  pro- 
vided, was  made  from  there.  After  some  study  and  investigation,  I  feel  confident 
that  this  place  was  near  the  Smoky  Hill,  on  the  route  back  to  the  site  of  Great 
Bend,  where  that  route  diverged  from  the  line  of  the  Smoky  Hill.  That  it  was 
on  the  Smoky  Hill  or  a  tributary  there  can  be  no  doubt.  When  the  explorers 
went  back  to  this  place,  in  what  direction  did  they  travel  and  what  did  they  go 
back  from! 

The  answer  to  this  question  is  a  very  significant  one,  and  solves  the  problem 
of  the  location  and  identity  of  Quivira.  They  went  back  from  the  "end  of  Qui- 
vira." They  went  Vjack  from  a  point  on  the  great  river  below  where  the  other 
rivers  and  streams  flowed  into  it;  from  a  point  where  it  had  " more  water  and 
more  inhabitants  than  the  others."  They  went  back  from  "those  ravines"  of 
which  Castaneda  speaks  when  he  says  "Quivira  is  west  of  those  ravines."  As 
"those  ravines"  were  at  the  east  side  of  Quivira,  and  as  the  explorers  went  back 
from  them  toward  the  crossing  on  the  St.  Peter  and  Paul's,  they  evidently  went 
back  toward  the  southwest. 

Let  us  take  the  point  on  the  great  river  I  have  described  as  a  starting-point. 
As  they  went  back  from  it  toward  the  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  crossing  to  the  place 
where  the  fruit  and  corn  were  provided  for  the  return,  they  surely  went  toward 
the  southwest;  and  they  continued  traveling  in  that  direction  until  they  reached 
that  crossing;  for  a  little  further  on  in  his  narrative  Jaramillo  says,  on  the  same 
page  (591):  '■'■Thus  they  brought  us  back  by  the  same  road  as  far  as  where  I 
said  before  that  we  came  to  a  river  called  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul's." 

Here  is  a  line  of  travel  established  from  the  point  where  the  Santa  Fe  trail 
crossed  the  Arkansas  river  to  a  point  on  the  Kansas  below  where  the  other 
streams  described  flow  into  it,  and  this  point  is  at  the  "end  of  Quivira."  This 
line  runs  through  a  section  of  country  exactly  described  by  the  narratives  of  the 
explorers  themselves.  The  point  where  the  Santa  Fe  trail  crossed  the  Arkansas 
is  the  first  landmark  on  this  line  of  travel.  -    - 

The  point  three  days'  march  from  this  crossing  toward  the  northeast,  on 
the  Santa  Fe  trail,  and  on  the  north  side  of  the  Arkansas,  where  the  Quivira 
hunting  party  was  found,  was  another  landmark  on  this  line.  (Jaramillo,  page 
589.) 


9 

The  present  site  of  the  town  of  Great  Bend,  where  the  course  of  the  Arkansas 
river  changed  from  the  northeast,  is  another  landmark  on  this  line. 

The  point  where  the  explorers  first  saw  the  high  hills  along  the  Smoky  Hill 
river,  by  which  Castaneda  marked  the  western  or  rather  southwestern  limit  of 
Quivira,  is  another  landmark  on  this  line. 

The  place  where  the  cross  was  erected  and  where  fruit  and  corn  were  pro- 
vided for  the  return  was  another  landmark  on  this  line. 

"Those  ravines"  at  the  east  side  of  Quivira  constituted  another  landmark  on 
this  line. 

The  "end  of  Quivira,"  where  the  Indians  described  the  things  as  of  "great 
importance,"  was  another  landmark  on  this  line. 

The  point,  below  its  described  tributaries,  where  was  seen  the  great  river 
which  flowed  "down"  to  where  "the  plains  come  to  an  end,"  is  the  last  land- 
mark on  this  line. 

The  points  at  the  two  ends  of  this  line  are  certainly  fixed  by  the  narratives  of 
the  explorers,  and  the  intermediate  points  can  be  identified,  at  least  approxi- 
mately. 

I  claim  that  the  points  described,  which  are  fixed  by  the  narratives  themselves, 
establish  the  line  of  travel  pursued  by  Coronado  and  his  exploring  party  from  the 
crossing  to  the  "end  of  Quivira";  and  that  this  line,  twice  passed  over,  viewed 
in  connection  with  all  the  statements  and  description  given  by  the  chronicles,  and 
the  natural  features  along  and  at  the  terminal  points  of  the  line,  locates  and 
identifies  the  long-lost  land  of  Quivira. 

It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  not  chosen  a  location  for  Quivira  in  advance, 
and  interpreted  the  narratives  so  as  to  bring  the  Spaniards  to  it.  I  have  been 
forced  to  my  conclusion,  rather  than  inclined  toward  it.  I  have  not  said  a  word 
about  the  many  thousand  implements  found  in  the  favored  region  I  have  de- 
scribed. Here  are  the  flint  knives  and  "razors"  described  by  the  narratives, 
arrow-points,  spear-heads,  axes,  and  agricultural  implements,  showing  that  agri- 
culture was  practiced,  agreeably  to  what  the  narratives  say  of  the  Quiviras. 
These  implements  are  rude  and  rough,  indicating  people  of  a  very  low  grade  of 
culture.  Such  are  the  descriptions  given  of  the  Quiviras.  I  had  known  of  these 
implements,  but  did  not  consider  them  in  evidence  until  the  Spaniards  were 
traced  to  them.  When  to  the  evidences  I  have  given  I  add  the  testimony  of 
these  silent  but  unerring  witnesses,  it  seems  absolutely  conclusive  that  here  was 
the  real  Quivira. 

When  I  received  the  report  of  the  bureau  of  ethnology  containing  the  narratives 
I  could  not  find  any  river  corresponding  to  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  excei)t  the  Ar- 
kansas, and  assumed  that  the  Spaniards  crossed  at  crossing  of  Santa  Fe  traiJ^jLa ^ 

indicated  by  Jaramillo.  I  could  find  no  river  corresponding  to  the  "  very  great 
river"  mentioned  by  Coronado  except  the  Kansas.  I  drew  a  line  from  the  Santa 
Fe  trail  crossing  on  the  Arkansas  to  a  point  on  the  Kansas  below  the  Blue.  This 
line  seemed  to  fit  the  intermediate  points  and  the  descriptions  like  the  capstone 
to  an  arch. 

My  conclusion  is  that  Quivira  extended  from  "those  ravines"  formed  by  the 
upper  courses  of  Deep,  Mill,  Humboldt  and  McDowell's  creeks,  and  from  a  point 
on  the  Kansas  river  north  of  them  toward  the  southwest  as  far  as  Great  Bend. 
To  the  landmarks  already  cited.  Reckon  Springs  and  Hickory  Springs  might, 
almost  with  certainty,  be  added. 

The  Quiviras  dwelt  on  the  smaller  streams  rather  than  on  the  larger  ones.  In 
my  collection  of  flint  implements  of  the  Quiviras  I  have  axes,  hoes,  picking  im- 
plements, hammers,  knives,  drills,  scrapers,  arrow-points,  spear-heads,  sledges, 


10 

and  other  things.  These  are  all  rough  and  differ  from  the  implements  of  the 
neighboring  tribe,  Harahey,  those  of  the  latter  tribe  being  shaped  and  finished 
in  a  better  manner. 

The  Quivira  implements  are  found  along  streams  from  McDowell's  creek  to 
Great  Bend,  and  are  easily  distinguished  from  implements  of  other  tribes. 

Coronado  says  there  was  no  timber  except  along  the  gullies  and  rivers,  which 
were  few.  (Page  582.)  This  shows  that  he  did  not  go  far  enough  east  to  see 
heavy  bodies  of  timber.  After  joining  his  main  force  on  the  Rio  Grande,  the 
army  returned  thence  to  Mexico,  the  expedition  being  a  complete  failure. 

While  Mr.  Brower's  book  "Harahey"  was  in  preparation,  I  had  the  honor  of 
contributing  an  article  to  the  work.  He  and  Mr.  Hodge  deserve  great  credit  for 
the  light  they  have  thrown  on  the  subject.  It  is  a  matter  of  much  gratification 
to  me  that  my  views  coincide  so  nearly  with  theirs.  Mr.  Hodge  has  indisputably 
shown  that  the  Quiviras  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Wichitas  and  the  Haraheys  of 
the  Pawnees. 

The  patiftnt  and  intelligent  researches  of  the  late  L.  R.  Elliott,  of  Manhattan, 
and  of  Judge  J.  T.  Keagy,  of  Alma,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  commeadation. 

All  the  gentlemen  named  have  been  worthy  colaborers,  and  to  them  the  credit 
which  is  their  due  is  freely  accorded. 

Coronado  was  in  Quivira  twenty-five  days,  and  the  country  must  have  been 
pretty  well  explored,  for  he  says,  in  his  letter  to  the  king,  that  he  "sent  captains 
and  men  in  many  directions."  The  late  Colonel  Phillips,  of  Salina,  once  told 
me  that  he  had  seen  the  Spanish  flag  cut  on  a  rock  on  Big  creek,  in  Ellis  county; 
that,  although  there  was  some  defacement  from  the  effects  of  the  weather,  the 
flag  could  be  made  out.  Professor  Williston,  of  the  state  university,  informs  me 
that  an  ancient  house  has  been  discovered  in  Scott  county.  A  sword  bearing  a 
Spanish  inscription  has  been  found  on  the  Walnut,  thirty-eight  mifis  southeast 
of  this  ruin.  Some  of  these  may  throw  further  light  on  the  wanderings  of  Coro- 
nado's  men. 

Some  students  of  the  expedition  who  have  read  the  narratives  in  connection 
with  contemporaneous  history  seem  to  have  become  confused,  and  despair  of 
reaching  a  solution.  This  should  not  be.  If  this  course  was  always  followed 
no  conclusion  would  be  reached  in  anything  perplexing.  The  narratives  of  the 
explorers  should  take  precedence  over  everything  else.  If  we  accept  these  as  a 
guide  we  cannot  ignore  the  northward  journey  of  Coronado's  detachment;  of 
his  coming  to  a  river  on  St.  Peter  and  Paul's  day;  of  his  crossing  it  "there" ; 
of  his  marching  toward  the  northeast  along  the  river,  after  crossing  it;  of  the 
high  hills  seen  afterward,  and  the  great  river  seen  at  the  "end  of  Quivira." 
We  must  admit  that  the  existence  of  the  best  quality  of  flint  on  McDowell's  and 
Humboldt  creeks,  the  "springs,"  "rivulets,"  "fine  appearing  streams,"  the 
plums,  grapes,  mulberries,  and  nuts,  attracted  the  Quiviras  to  the  region  de- 
scribed, which  "is  not  a  very  rough  country,  but  is  made  up  of  hillocks  and 
plains." 

We  must  also  admit  that  the  existence,  in  much  greater  numbers  than  else- 
where, of  the  flint  implements  found  in  this  section  proves  that  here  was  a  con- 
siderable Indian  population;  that  the  great  similarity  of  these  implements  in 
material  and  manufacture  shows  that  they  were  made  by  one  tribe:  and  that 
these  implements  indicate  the  practice  of  agriculture,  the  planting  of  corn. 
Finally,  we  cannot  escape  the  fact  that  the  course  of  Coronado's  detachment 
was  directed  to  the  seat  of  such  an  Indian  population. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  other  evidences,  less  important,  except  to 
state  that  they  confirm  the  ones  already  given. 


11 

That  the  Santa  Fe  trail  is  a  prehistoric  route  seems  generally  admitted,  and  I 
regard  its  Arkansas  crossing  as  an  important  key  to  the  solution  of  the  problem . 

After  crossing  the  river  the  Spaniards  marched  down  the  stream,  but  the  nar- 
ratives say  they  "  went  up."  We  should  remember  that  "  the  country  is  level  as 
far  as  Quivira,  and  there  they  began  to  see  some  mountain-chains."  The  atten- 
tion of  the  explorers  was  directed  toward  Quivira  more  than  to  the  direction  the 
water  ran,  and,  as  they  approached  these  high  hills  from  the  level  ground,  it 
seems  they  were  impressed  as  going  up.  The  other  river,  the  Kansas,  is  correctly 
described  as  running  "down"  to  where  "  there  are  people  who  do  not  plant,  but 
live  wholly  by  hunting." 

Coronado,  in  his  letter  to  the  king  (page  582),  says  that  the  place  where  he 
reached  Quivira  was  in  the  fortieth  degree.  Mr.  Hodge  has  shown  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  manner  in  which  the  Spaniards  then  reckoned  latitude,  the  fortieth 
degree  was  near  Great  Bend,  where  the  first  Quivira  settlements  were  seen. 

That  there  are  some  perplexing  features  connected  with  the  study  of  the  nar- 
ratives is  admitted;  but  that  the  great  weight  of  authority  and  evidence  is  in 
favor  of  the  views  herein  set  forth  seems  undeniable.  At  the  instance  of  Mr. 
Hodge,  I  sent  that  gentleman  some  manuscript  giving  my  views  on  the  .subject. 
He  did  me  the  honor  to  send  the  following  letter,  which  explains  itself : 

"Smithsonian  Institution,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  31,  1900. 

"J//-.  W.  E.  Ixichey,  Harveyvllle,  Kav.  : 

"My  Dear  Sir-  I  have  delayed  answering  your  recent  note  until  an  oppor- 
tunity was  afforded  for  having  a  copy  made  of  your  letter  of  March  1,  regarding 
the  location  of  Quivira.  The  copy  has  now  been  made,  but,  of  course,  it  will 
not  be  used  vmtil  your  own  publication  appears.  I  would  urgently  recommend 
that  your  views  be  pviblished,  after  such  elaboration  as  you  may  deem  fit,  for  I 
regard  your  exposition  of  the  narratives  one  of  the  most  common-sense  views 
ever  made  on  the  subject.     *     *     * 

"  Unless  you  have  other  plans  in  mind,  I  would  suggest  that  you  publish  your 
Quivira  paper  as  soon  as  practicable,  since  it  is  only  proper  that  you  should'i'have 
all  the  credit  due.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  Kansas  Historical  Society  would  be 
glad  to  publish  the  paper  in  its  transactions.     Yours  very  truly, 

F.  W.  Hodge." 

In  the  haste  with  which  this  article  has  been  prepared  it  has  been  impossible 
to  present  all  the  points  desired.  Enough,  however,  it  is  hoped,  has  been  written 
to  show  that  the  positions  assumed  are  warranted  by  the  narratives  of  the  expe- 
dition and  the  natural  features  of  the  country  described. 

Aware  that  a  certain  school  of  critics  seem  disposed  to  dispute  every  point  on 
which  there  appears  to  be  any  doubt,  I  have  endeavored  to  draw  all  the  mean- 
ing obtainable  from  the  accounts  of  the  explorers,  and,  with  the  aid  of  my 
associates,  to  make  the  views  held  by  them  and  me  so  clear  and  reasonable  that 
the  correctness  of  these  views  will  be  generally  admitted  by  those  who  have 
given  the  subject  careful  study. 

Feeling  justified  by  the  approval  of  the  eminent  authority  given,  and  hoping 
that  this  article  will  cause  further  investigation  and  study,  I  respectfully  submit 
these  pages  to  an  impartial  public. 


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